Archives de pédiatrie : organe officiel de la Sociéte française de pédiatrie
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Observational Study
[Can a simple lung ultrasound score predict length of ventilation for infants with severe acute viral bronchiolitis?]
Lung ultrasound (LU) is a bedside point-of-care technique in critical care and emergency medicine. LU is quick and non-irradiating, and provides accurate diagnostic information when compared with chest radiographs. Specific LU signs have been described for bronchiolitis. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between severity of LU-diagnosed lung lesions, using a quantitative LU score, and the length of non-invasive ventilation (LOV) for infants diagnosed with severe viral bronchiolitis. ⋯ This is the first study to evaluate the use of LU in infants needing PICU admission for severe acute bronchiolitis. The LU score does not correlate with LOV, mWCAS, LOS, or length of stay, but the number of pathological intercostal spaces on the right side correlates significantly with LOS. Although LU scores have been validated for the newborn and the adult, this has been in the setting of restrictive lung diseases. Bronchiolitis is a predominantly obstructive lung disease and this may explain the lack of performance observed.